jim vance. >> and i'm doreen gentzler. a man linked to several sexual assaults more than a year ago seems to be back at it. news4's pat collins is live at police headquarters, where officials are trying to get the word out. pat? >> reporter: it's been more than two years. he's still at large. it appears this most wanted sex offender is back at work in the germantown and gaithersburg areas. we first encountered him in june of 2010. father hurley boulevard, germantown. he breaks into the apartment of a 68-year-old woman, sexually assaults her and then he escapes. about two months later, right across the street at the churchill senior living center, he strikes again. this time the victim, an 86-year-old woman. so brazen is this man, that in

january of 2011, he went back to the first victim's apartment, broke in for a second time, and sexually assaulted that 68-year-old woman a second time. we spoke to her. >> i am determined to do everything i can to see to it this arrogant little twerp doesn't get away with it. >> reporter: now we learn of more crimes that police believe may be linked to the same man. august 28th, 2011, these apartments in the 900 block of plopper road, it's about 1:00 in the morning. police say a suspect breaks in through a bedroom window, and then sexually assaults a 37-year-old woman and runs away. about a year goes by without any reported incidents. and then about three weeks ago, september 2nd, the 180100 block

of mets drive, about 4:00 in the morning. a woman wakes up and finds a man inside her house. he's got a knife. there's a confrontation. a fight. she gets cut. he runs away. marathon circle, last saturday night, a woman reports seeing a suspicious man looking into an apartment window. it went down as a peeping tom, but police believe it could have been a prelude to another attack. >> the things that are the same is it's happening at night, it's happening in the same geographical area, it's also happening where there are single females home alone. >> disturbing. >> yes. >> reporter: a warning from police before you go to bed, make sure your doors and windows are locked. if you see anything, anything suspicious, call 911. live in montgomery county, pat

collins, news4. we are seeing some cloudy skies and some of you are seeing rain as we start our weekend. how long is this going to last? let's check in with chief meteorologist doug kammerer. >> most of this is going to last through the rest of the evening. if you're seeing rain right now, you have a chance to see it for the next couple of hours. 75 degrees out at the airport. the front is moving through the region. that's why we have shower activity. that's also why we have cooler air just up to the north and west. from 66 in virginia to 50 in maryland, south of there, that's where the rain is. in southern maryland, around culpepper, fredericksburg. even around the district we're seeing rain coming through parts of downtown, southeast around rfk, along 495, and back to the west. heavier rain around culpepper. back to the west, even more rain here. this is whe the front is. i'll show you what it will bring for your weekend. stay tuned for the forecast coming up in a minute. now to the race for the white house.

analysts say early voting could play a crucial role in the election. and president obama is the likely benefactor of that. the latest nbc news poll shows him well ahead in the key swing states and every ballot cast early for mr. obama is one less voter that mitt romney can win over. steve handelsman is on capitol hill with the latest on this. steve? >> reporter: wendy, thanks. early voting, the official election day is november 6th, but that's actually really the last day you can vote. >> today is election day. >> reporter: in iowa today, michelle obama kicked off what she hopes becomes a stampede. >> are you fired up? are youeady to vote? are you going to go vote right now? >> reporter: the first lady sent voters to a satellite voting site across the street. so they could cast ballots on the spot. early voting started yesterday in this battleground state, and the turnout is breaking records. >> this is well over double what we did four years ago.

>> reporter: most of these early voters say they're voting obama. >> well, i think it's because we're all excited and the romney people just aren't that excited. >> reporter: mitt romney trails in iowa polls and in the rest of the swing states where this election will be decided. >> 110 electoral votes all total in the nine battleground states. we'll see, look, romney needs a shift of the whole discussion, and reframing of the campaign. >> reporter: a clear debate victory next week could do that. aides say romney plans to fact-check the president. he previewed that today in pennsylvania. >> the president's policies have not worked. my policies to create 12 million jobs will bring more take-home pay, more hope and more prosperity for every family in america. >> reporter: but if romney does have a terrific debate, it will be too late to change some minds. those in iowa who have already voted. every day, every week between now and november 6th, more voters in more states, many of

them battleground states, will cast early ballots. putting a lot more pressure on mitt romney to turn things around in the first debate next wednesday. steve handelsman, news4. fire officials in arundel county are trying to figure out what caused a massive fire that destroyed two mobile homes today. crews responded to the mobile park in lothian this morning. it took about 60 firefighters to get the blaze under control. one person was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation. the red cross is helping out the six residents who have been displaced. two high-level firings in prince george's county schools. sources say the two officials who were dismissed authorized a major severance payment without school board approval. prince george's county bureau chief tracee wilkins is in upper marlboro. that leaves two more openings at t the top of the school system, doesn't it? >> reporter: that's right. it is the second largest school

system in maryland. and yes, they're dealing with plenty of vacancies at the top. when superintendent dr. welcome height left the prince george's county school system, his wasn't the only vacancy to be filled. a number of high-level staff positions were open. now, there are more after sources say the chief financial officer and chief legal counsel were fired in executive session during a school board emergency meeting last night. >> why is everybody jumping ship. i think that the devil's in the details. >> reporter: naacp president bob ross is calling for a financial audit of the school system. rumors of sweetheart deals and unapproved severance packages prompted his request. according to sources, the same rumors moved the school board to deny any severance packages without the board's approval. sources say that agreement was violated when synthia shilling, seen here on this blog, received a six-figure direct deposit last

week. that payment led to the firing of the school system's cfo and chief legal counsel, according to sources close to an ongoing investigation. >> they took a reaction, removed the two individuals that was responsible for it. and i hope they do a full investigation to get everybody that was involved in this. that means they may have to bring dr. height back. >> reporter: open high-level positions in the school administration include superintendent, cfo, chief legal counsel, chief of student services, and chief of facilities. among others. >> i look at the turnover, as i look at it as an opportunity for us to start moving our school system in the direction that we say we want to take it in prince george's county. >> reporter: derrick davis whose committee oversees the school's budget said business is still getting done there. >> they're in the process of ensuring that in all situations they're prudent and making decisions about who to come on

and lead our school system. >> reporter: sources say if you add that six-figure deposit that was made in shilling's account, along with the rest of the compensation she's received, it totals more than $170,000. that's more than what the superintendent was given. they will investigate and find out how that happened and why. sources also tell us they want to get that money back. tracee wilkins, news4. for the first time in nearly two years, d.c. police are once again using breathalyzer tests to combat drunk driving. the device measures whether a driver has a blood alcohol level above the legal limit. the program was put on hold in 2010 after calibration problems led to false readings and dozens of drunk driving convictions had to be tossed. but the city says new equipment is now in place and this program resumed today. >> i think some people may have said, why is this taking so long. one of the things we've done is ensured we've got a solid program. a rock-solid program.

and one that is scientifically viable. >> in addition to the breath test, the d.c. council passed a bill earlier this year authorizing tougher penalties for impaired drivers. the search for a man described as armed and dangerous. a nationwide manhunt that's led police to our area. a bird strike may be to blame for a fiery plane crash. it killed more than a dozen tourists. the lost piece of art that cost a woman just $7, and could have fetched $70,

authorities in nepal say a fiery plane crash may have been caused by a bird strike. the twin engine plane crashed just two minutes after takeoff from kathmandu. there were 19 people aboard the plane, all of them were killed. the victims were from great britain, nepal, and china. several people on the plane were tourists on their way to mount everest for a climb. aviation authorities say this is the seventh fatal crash in nepal in the past two years. another person has died tonight following yesterday's workplace shooting in minnesota.

that brings the total number of deaths to six. that includes the gunman. tonight investigators say the gunman had been fired just hours before. chris clackum with the latest. >> reporter: the day after and grief still surrounds the ak sent sign company in minneapolis. as well as questions about what led a former employee to kill the company owner, and others before killing himself thursday afternoon. >> i don't have any words for it. i just don't know what happened. or why that happened. >> reporter: the shooter has been identified as 36-year-old andrew ingledinger who had been fired just hours before the shooting rampage. >> ingledinger was found in the basement. he was in a location where there was one casing on the floor and he was dead. >> reporter: ingledinger stood out to other employees at the company. >> the one that was doing the shooting was a quiet -- kept himself to himself. >> reporter: they had the plant

cordoned off friday, expecting to take the rest of the day to collect evidence. >> unfortunately it's a horrible wait. and our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims and the friends of the victims. a lot of them have been out here. >> reporter: while neighbors near the plant have their own stories to tell, of helping hide employees who fled once the shooting started. >> he came running up the side of the garage, to the front and asked my husband if he could use the phone and said he was running from the shooter. >> reporter: police say a search of the suspect's house turned up packaging for 10,000 rounds of ammunition. chris clackum, nbc news. the man who's accused of killing 12 people in a colorado movie theater he mailed a notebook and burned money to his psychiatrist. court documents released in a hearing today revealed what was in that package. the package that had shut down part of the university of colorado days after the massacre when it was discovered. prosecutors also claim that james holmes threatened a professor, and that's why he was banned from the university.

not because he was dropping out of school. defense attorneys are denying that accusation. it's happening again in los angeles. the dreaded carmageddon when california highway officials shut down the 405 freeway. the busiest highway in the country. and this weekend, one stretch of it will be completely closed as part of a $1 billion improvement project. the 405 closed in 2011 as well and drivers did stay away then. but officials say if their warnings are ignored this time, it could lead to backups of up to 100 miles in each direction. >> isn't that just a beltway, though? >> that's often just 405. >> northern virginia there? >> a lot of people listened last time. >> a little damp out there, eh? >> i would almost say bad hair day, but both of you look fantastic this evening. >> well said. >> a little fuzzy. >> i'm trying to get -- trying to score some points here. out there right now, what are we looking at? we're looking at 81 degrees.

i didn't get any points? >> no, you got points. you got points. >> yes, i got some points. that will carry me right on into the weekend. a low of 67 in the morning hours. we picked up about a quarter of an inch of rain overnight. heavy rain in parts of the area that received two to three inches. just down to the south. around culpepper county, parts of fauquier county and southern maryland picking up good amounts of rain. temperatures above average once again, but that's it. i don't think we'll see any more temperatures above average for the next couple of days. going below average over the next few days. 75 degrees right now. winds out of the northwest at 13 miles an hour. with all those clouds. showers from d.c. southward. that's where they've been. that's where we're looking at the temperatures that are falling because of the rain. 66 in manassas. 66 in culpepper. but to the north, temperatures are falling as the front moves through. only 64 in cumberland and 64 in winchester, 66 in hagerstown. here's where the rain has been,

mostly from washington down to the south. again, if you're along 66 in northern virginia, to the south, that's where you're going to see the rain. if you're along route 50 in maryland, to the south, that's where you will see the rain. at least you have the best chance of it. light showers in around the beltway to oxen hill, national harbor picked up a little bit in the way of rain. andrews air force base. towards the east, toward dunkirk and places like that, chesapeake beach, seeing rain. the heaviest rain moving out of st. mary's county right now. we move back to the west and there's even heavier pran. a few showers here, down to the south, they're moving out to the chesapeake. and back to the west, this is where we're seeing the heaviest rain right now over culpepper. the area that saw the rain last night, so be careful here. we got a lot of flooding and water rescues last night. be careful if you're driving in that region. see this little spin in the atmosphere? that will help to drag the rest of this down to the south. so i think once this moves

through, overnight tonight, we're going to start to clear up. we're also going to get a bit on the cool side. take a look at these numbers. 61 right now in pittsburgh. 59 in state college. warm air still down to the south. 80 in virginia beach. that cooler air is going to settle in here tomorrow. if you've been thinking, hey, bring back our fall temperatures, you're going to get them for the weekend. stormy conditions to the south, will move out tonight. tomorrow, i think we see a mixture of sun and clouds. our temperatures will be about ten degrees cooler than they were today in many locations. and 20 degrees cooler than a couple of days ago. we watch sunday, an area of low pressure moves down and i think we stay cloudy and cool. showers remain to the north and west. chance of sprinkles on sunday, but not a washout. don't cancel any plans. this evening, plenty of clouds, showers and storms mostly down to the south. tomorrow morning, we wake up on the dry side, i believe.

partly cloudy. a bit cooler, 49 to 59 degrees. and then tomorrow afternoon, we'll see the numbers into the fall-like temperatures. 69 to about 74 degrees. winds out of the northwest at 10 to 15. so definitely more fall-like tomorrow. a pretty nice saturday. speaking of tomorrow, breathe deep and jump d.c. for longevity. you want to jump off a building? here you go, down at 1025 f street between 9:00 and 5:00. you can rappel off a building to help support lung cancer. that will be a cool event. 71 on sunday. 74 on monday. tuesday, a pretty good chance of rain with a high of 75. and warmer as we get into next week. >> oh, my. >> all in all, not a bad weekend. >> no. saturday looking like the better of the two. >> yes, for sure. >> all right, thank you, doug. when we come back, a wild ride for a police cruiser. it ends with a crash into someone's house. breaking news in the investigation in the national manhunt that led police to northern virginia. coming up in sports, the

redskins defense tries to buck a bad trend. the ravens "d" continued to do what it does best. plus, bad news for the wizards. and this one comes before the season even begins. decision

race for u.s. senate in maryland. democratic senator ben cardin is running for a second term. he has a republican challenger, and now rob sobhani is a recent entry in that race as an independent. as chris gordon reports, over the last few weeks, sobhani has outspent both his opponents and now he's showing up in the polls. >> i'm rob sobhani -- >> you've probably seen his ads and wondered who is rob sobhani.

the former university professor runs his own company, caspian energy consulting which works with businesses in the middle east and former soviet union. he has made enough money to pay for his own campaign as an independent candidate for the u.s. senate in maryland. >> i was blessed this year that i hit the jackpot. well, i could have chosen to buy a house, another one, but i chose to put it in this effort, because this is a noble effort. america's a great country. and people like myself owe our success to this country. >> reporter: u.s. senator ben cardin today sent out an e-mail to supporters, asking for their financial help. saying one of his opponents has already spent $3 million on political ads for tv, and he wants to be able to respond to any and all attacks. cardin's e-mail says every dollar will help us go toe to toe with our opponent by airing our own tv ads. please give $5 today so we can respond and win this race. dan bongino is the republican

candidate in the u.s. senate race in maryland. he says he began tv ads this week and has raised $700,000 this reporting period. >> i'm the only nonmillionaire in this race. so i'm the only middle class representative fighting for the middle class because those problems bleed for me. i don't read about them in books. it's not an academic issue for me, these are real world problems. only 3% of my donations have been from pacs. >> reporter: ben cardin has a strong lead, 50% of the vote, republican dan bongino with 22% and rob sobhani with 21% with 7% undecided. sobhani claims his opponents tried to exclude him from upcoming debates. but he tells me he will be included if there's enough public interest. right now, a final push is on for votes. ahead of next week's presidential debate, some analysts say it may be too late

to change some voters' minds. the turnout is breaking records. they say president obama is likely to benefit from this than mitt romney, because polls show mr. obama is leading in several swing states. a warning tonight for women in the germantown and gaithersburg areas of montgomery county. police are urging extra precaution after a series of break-ins and sexual assaults. officials are linking recent attacks to others that happened starting more than two years ago. in one case, the suspect attacked the same victim on two separate occasions. two high-ranking officials in prince george's county schools were fired after sources say they approved a$100,000 severance payment without board approval. sources say the money went to former human resources chief synthia shilling who resigned after a hit-and-run crash this summer. that leaves several top-level positions open in that district. including superintendent and chief financial officer. breaking news in a national manhunt for a virginia man

suspected of killing a popular school superintendent from new york. news4's jackie bensen has more from the newsroom. >> there have been a lot of developments on this story in the last few hours. in the last few minutes. what news4 has learned is that the u.s. marshals, they are stationed right now in shenandoah county, virginia, are expected to make an announcement about 42-year-old anthony taglianetti, who they've been searching for in connection with the homicide of keith reed jr. he is the school superintendent from clymer, new york, who was murdered, found shot to death at his home on monday. now, what we can tell you is the marshals are in shenandoah county, virginia, getting ready to issue a press release about this matter. and we can also tell you that a sharp-eyed news4 viewer who saw the story that we ran at 5:30 tonight, says she witnessed the suspect, anthony taglianetti, being arrested by what appeared to be u.s. marshals and shenandoah county sheriff's deputies in that area earlier

this afternoon. we're not clear exactly at what time it is. so again, a lot of developments going on with this story. there appear to be some movement, some type of big break in the case. when we get that information, we will bring it to you as soon as possible. back to you. >> jackie bensen, thanks. three sexual assault cases in fairfax county this month may be the work of one man. three women say they were grabbed from behind, fondled while they were walking in the springfield area. another woman was assaulted september 18th walking along a path on metropolitan center drive. september 7th, a woman fondled on monticello boulevard. >> the victims all described someone as wearing a red baseball cap. they all described the same similar thing as happening to them, that they were fondled. a person ran up, grabbed them from behind, touched them inappropriately, and they ran off. >> police say no one was injured.